Edelweiss leads $9m round for India's Revv

The round includes both equity and debt, according to a VC Circle story linked to from Revv's Twitter account, with the debt portion raised from Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services and car leasing company LeasePlan India. Revv will use the new capital to expand into new markets, build its technology capabilities and create products to address newly arising opportunities.

Founded last year, Revv currently only provides self-drive car rental services. Customers view available cars on the company's mobile app, their selections are delivered to their locations, and when they are finished using the vehicles the company picks them up.

Revv aims to establish the car-sharing model as a practical alternative to car ownership that can function in conjunction with other services, such as ride-sharing. It claims to have seen healthy growth over its 15 months of operation, with more than half of its revenue coming from repeat users.

The company's most significant competitor is Zoomcar, a similar service founded in 2013 that raised a $24 million Series B round led by Ford Motor Company earlier this year. Sequoia Capital, Nokia Growth Partners and Empire Angels, which committed $11 million to the company last year, also participated in the Series B round.

Investors in India's technology-enabled transportation market have tended to focus on ride-hailing and taxi services, most notably Uber rival Ola, whose Series F round last year, led by Baillie Gifford, saw it raise $500 million at a reported valuation of around $5 billion.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Technology
• Consumer
• Early-stage
• India
• Edelwiess Alternative Asset Advisors
• TMT
• automobiles